the providence river providence the the providence river monika hedman 2016 riverwalk improvements made in collaboration with providence parks department downtown neighborhood association rhode island school of design waterfront parks rhode works cost: $9.2m on budget done: fall ‘19 on time “follow your heart” “we must… have compassion or “heart” for others, and complement this with action by enthusiastically participating in the world’s events… now is our opportunity to live out our education, promote positive change and act in the world to make it a better place” - francis j marx v a shopping cart a flyaway drawing an old shell of a boat old remnants of a dock three (maybe more) traffic cones many dirty ducks red solo cups (many) a shoe it is orange and looks rusty very shallow everything is covered in a thin film the project will involve dredging more than 6 million cubic yards of material to return a 7-mile stretch of the authorized federal navigation project to full authorized dimensions - 40 feet deep and 600 feet wide. this is a significant moment for the state of rhode island and the army corps of engineers. we're about to start the long-anticipated dredging of the providence river and harbor that will make the river and harbor more efficient to use, improve their navigation safety, and protect the environment shoaling has reduced depths in the channel by more than 8 feet in places creating draft restrictions and significant time delays for deep-draft vessels using the project. all pertinent issues and concerns were identified and that the public had ample opportunity to participate the remainder of the maintenance material and suitable cad cell material will be placed at an offshore disposal site in rhode island sound the cost of lighting it will be comparatively small, and the advantages to navigation will be very great. it appears that an extensive shoal runs out from bullock’s point, which is a serious danger to navigation 1. a shoal makes out from the point at an angle of about four points, (45º) and, without being marked, it would be a dangerous obstruction to the navigation of the river. 4. a light on bullock’s point would complete the system of lights in the river you stroll alongside a calm river that snakes through its busy streets, and along the riverfront you see crowds of people milling about drinking coffee, eating food from street vendors, and enjoying the sunset. the city of providence is often overshadowed the brainchild of providence-based artist barnaby evans, waterfire was created to build community and to invite people from all areas and walks of life to come together and celebrate the out-of-doors and beauty of nature, even in an urban setting. waterfire’s appeal is twofold. in the 1980s, providence began its rebirth as more and more people took an interest in making the downtown welcoming not only for its citizens, but also for visitors. concrete was ripped off the river a 2004 economic-impact study found that waterfire attracted more than 1.1 million people to providence every year. ask, in hotels and saloons, for the finest oysters; the answer will be: “we have providence rivers” the possibilities of oyster production in these waters are beginning to be very much talked of. the advantages there over most other places of equal extent in our country are quickly seen. these waters are well sheltered from storms. they are nowhere very deep. there is much of what is called good bottom. and many fresh water streams are continually flowing in. many persons are now taking up the available ground for cultivation yet the state laws are not very encouraging of the enterprise. providence is built on providence river these several rivers divide the city so as to make numerous bridges necessary the first recorded act which reveals the early value of the oyster supplies is a vote taken on march 6, 1639, which declares “all the sea banks free for fishing” on feb. 18, 1735, attention was directed to the preservation of oysters in the bay, for large quantities of them were being taken to be burned for lime. so eager were the people in procuring materials for lime, that they gathered the shells with the oysters still alive in them, and burned them. this, of course, threatened to cause wholesale destruction of the oyster beds. a law was passed putting a stop to it. over 300,000 bushels of seed shells have been planted in the providence river this spring. parties from boston and elsewhere are doing much to foster the enterprise. the months of february and march seem to be trying seasons for native oysters. rhode island planters think the ground goes through some change that seriously affects the oysters upon it at that time. they begin to turn black and many die. the most vexatious enemy to the cultivator, as they all claim, is what they call the “beachcomber,” or “barnegatter.” these are persons who live around the shores, fish and dig clams, and steal oysters. being residents along the shores, they seem to feel that they have an inalienable right to all they can find in the water. private ownership of sea bottom they regard as somehow abridging their natural privileges. they have apparently on compunctions in getting all they can from the cultivator’s grounds. against all vexatious obstacles the business increases, because the demand for good oysters steadily increases. cultivation means good oysters at reasonable prices. merely natural supplies mean inferior oysters at high prices. large amounts of capital are likely to be invested in this industry during the next few years. their ready sales in the future, as in the past, can only be limited by the amount they are able to produce in their waters. a one year background survey of the petroleum hydrocarbons discharged to the providence river by a municipal wastewater secondary treatment plant indicated that these plants may be significant contributors to oil pollution in estuarine and coastal waters. sunil tripathi, the 22-year-old former brown university student who went missing last month and was briefly and inaccurately identified as a suspect in the boston marathon bombings, may have been found dead after a body was pulled from the providence river in rhode island. sponsored by the u.s. army corps of engineers new england district proposed dredging would remove about 3.9 million cubic yards (mcy) of material to restore the channel back to authorized dimensions. the material considered unsuitable for unconfined open water disposal (about 1.1 mcy) would be placed in several in-channel confined aquatic disposal (cad) cells in the upper river. the dredging operations will be conducted to the maximum extent practicable in a manner that is consistent with the approved management program. the clean water act of 1977 requires that the work comply with state or interstate requirements to control the discharge of dredged or fill material preliminary determinations are that the proposed action will have no significant adverse impacts on essential fish habitat impacts from dredging and disposal are expected to be short-term and localized passersby now have a clearer image of the long-awaited pedestrian bridge across the providence river that will connect the college hill and fox point neighborhoods with downtown. when it’s completed, the bridge will include 740 tons of steel. it’s a major milestone, said dyana koelsch, spokeswoman for the i-195 redevelopment district commission, which has final say over the city parks design. scientists from the department of environmental management are monitoring a large fish kill of adult menhaden in the seekonk and providence rivers. based on field observations and water quality measurements, the ongoing incident is being caused by low oxygen levels in the bottom waters. approximately 100 dead menhaden were found during the shoreline count at bishop's cove and the pawtucket boat ramp and pier area. dead fish were also strewn along inaccessible shoreline areas, and so the estimated total count was in the low hundreds. dem has been collaborating with the narragansett bay commission (nbc) to monitor the hypoxic (low oxygen) conditions in the affected waters. nbc field staff performed a regularly- scheduled water quality survey in the seekonk and providence rivers on july 21 and 22. they shared their data with dem and took fish samples for analysis. the data showed that the low- oxygen water extended all the way to india point park, and that almost the entire length of the seekonk river is experiencing a severe low oxygen event. reports early this week indicate that dead menhaden are being found along the east providence shore in the providence river. this suggests that the low-oxygen water has extended further south and is affecting the lower providence river this week. the hypoxic conditions are brought on by excess nutrients from various sources that cause algae to grow rapidly and often color the water. the seekonk river is presently a brown color due to a large bloom of nontoxic algae. as algae die (they only live for a short period) they sink to bottom waters, and bacteria in the bottom waters use oxygen to decompose their bodies. large algae blooms often result in low oxygen levels that are lethal to fish. major wastewater treatment facilities (wwtfs) in rhode island remove a large percent of the nutrients through tertiary treatment before releasing their treated effluent into the state's waters. however, other sources of nutrients such as fertilizers in storm water runoff and discharges from wwtfs that do not provide tertiary treatment are significant sources of nutrients, especially on the blackstone river.